Nick Boalch → Spanish → Dictatorship to Democracy

Spain: Dictatorship to Democracy and After, 1975–2007

© Nicholas Boalch 2000–2007. [Creative Commons] Some Rights Reserved.

Information in this timeline has been collated from my own research, from the invaluable online archives of the newspapers El País, El Mundo, La Vanguardia and El Periódico de Catalunya, from similar chronologies by Sébastien Ardouin and Michael Thompson, and from the books The New Spaniards by John Hooper (London: Penguin, 1995) and Contemporary Spain: A Handbook (London: Arnold, 2002) by Christopher Ross. I am indebted to all these sources, and stress that any errors I may have introduced are, of course, entirely my own fault.

1975

  • [Francisco Franco]
    Francisco Franco
  • [Juan Carlos]
    Juan Carlos I [Carlos Arias Navarro]
    Carlos Arias Navarro
  • November 20th: General Francisco Franco dies. Six years previously he had named his successor Juan Carlos de Borbón, the son of the legitimate heir to the throne, Juan de Borbón. Though Juan Carlos had always been presented as a loyal supporter of Francoist policy (and had sworn an oath of allegiance to Franco and the Movimiento Nacional) he in fact held aspirations towards reform.
  • November 22nd: King Juan Carlos I is crowned.
  • The Prime Minister at the time of Franco's death was Carlos Arias Navarro, an arch-conservative who dithered over reform.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1975 (17) ]

1976

  • The lack of serious reform results in serious civil unrest, protests and strikes throughout the year, and a surge of republicanism.
  • January: The government attempts to solve the crisis with a programme of limited reform but this has little effect.
  • April 23rd: Avui, the first newspaper to be published in Catalan since 1939, goes on sale on the Diada de Sant Jordi.
  • [Adolfo Suárez]
    Adolfo Suárez [Manuel Fraga]
    Manuel Fraga
  • July 1st: Arias Navarro resigns and is replaced by Adolfo Suárez, controversially chosen by the King to begin the process of proper reform.
  • July: Amnesty is granted to political prisoners, excluding terrorists.
  • August: King Juan Carlos unilaterally renounces Franco's privilege of naming Spanish bishops.
  • ['AP logo']
    Logo of AP
  • October 9th: Ex-Francoist Minister Manuel Fraga and six associates launch a new right-wing political party, the Alianza Popular.
  • November 18th: Suárez's Ley para la Reforma Política, introducing universal suffrage and a two-chamber parliamentary system, is passed by the Cortes by 425 votes to 59, with 13 abstentions.
  • December 15th: A public referendum endorses the bill by 94.2% to 2.6%, with a turnout of 77.72% of the electorate.
  • December: The Tribunal de Orden Público, a Francoist law court, is dissolved.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1976 (18) ]

1977

  • An increase in bombings and kidnappings in the early part of the year both by ETA, left-wing terrorists (such as the Maoist GRAPO) and by right-wing lynch mobs, culminating in the Atocha Massacre on January 24th in which five people are killed by the neo-fascist AAA.
  • [PSOE logo]
    PSOE logo
  • February 10th: The Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) is legalised.
  • March 30th: Trade unions are legalised and the right to strike is recognised.
  • April 9th: The Partido Comunista Español (PCE) is legalised. Franco's Movimiento Nacional is abolished.
  • [UCD logo]
    UCD logo
  • May: Suárez negotiates a party political position in which to fight the election, as leader of the Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD).
  • May 14th: Don Juan de Borbón renounces his claim to the Spanish throne in favour of his son in a ceremony at the Palacio de la Zarzuela.
  • June 15th: General Election. Won by Suárez's UCD with 165 out of the 350 seats in Congress. The PSOE and its allies on the left, led by Felipe González, wins 121 seats, Fraga's AP wins 16 seats and the PCE wins 20 seats. In the Senate, the UCD has 106 seats, the PSOE has 47, and the AP has 2.

    [Graph of the 1977 General Election results]
    (Results from the Ministerio del Interior. Electoral map from El País.)

  • ['Los padres de la Constitución']
    'Los padres de la Constitución'
  • July 28th: Spain requests membership of the EEC.
  • August 1st: A committee of seven 'wise men', representing all political parties, is selected to draft the new Constitution. The members are Gabriel Cisneros, José Pedro Pérez Llorca, Miguel Herrero y Rodriguez de Miñon, Miquel Roca, Manuel Fraga, Gregorio Peces Barba and Jordi Solé Tura.
  • [Josép Tarradellas] Josép Tarradellas
  • September 29th: Pre-autonomous government is set up in Catalunya following mass demonstrations in Barcelona, and a provisional Generalitat is restored. Exiled Catalan President Josép Tarradellas returns to take initial charge.
  • October 25th: Leaders of the main parties sign the Pactos de la Moncloa, a set of agreements on the new government's legislative programme.
  • December: The Censorship Bureau is disbanded.
  • December 29th: Pre-autonomous government is set up in the Basque Country.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1977 (12) ]

1978

  • During the course of the year pre-autonomous status is given to other future comunidades autonómicas: Andalucía, Aragón, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Castille & La Mancha, Castille & Léon, Extremadura, Galicia, Murcia.
  • February: Negotiations begin for Spain's entry to the EEC.
  • March: Negotiations begin for Spain's entry to NATO.
  • [Logo of HB]
    Logo of HB
  • April 27th: The left-wing Basque nationalist political parties Acción Nacionalista Vasca and Euskal Sozialista Biltzarrea combine with other groups to form an electoral coalition Herri Batasuna (HB), which will come to be identified as the political wing of ETA.
  • [Logo of CiU]
    Logo of CiU
  • September 19th: The right-wing Catalan nationalist political parties Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya and Unió Democràtica de Catalunya form an electoral coalition Convergència i Unió (CiU).
  • October 31st: The new Constitution (→ full text) is passed by the Cortes. It defines spain as a parliamentary monarchy, forbids an official religion, outlaws the death penalty, fixes the voting age at 18, and begins the process of regional devolution.
  • November 16th: An abortive military plot against the new democracy, 'Operación Galaxia', is exposed in Madrid. Two officers, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero and Captain Ricardo Sáenz de Ynestrillas are arrested, and given brief jail sentences in May 1980.
  • December 6th: The Constitution is approved in a referendum by 88.54% to 7.89%, with a turnout of 67.11% of the electorate. The Día de la Constitución has since been a national holiday.

    [Cartoon on the Constitutional Referendum: 'Vote Yes to a Constitution that gives you the right to vote No']
    Ramón, from Pueblo, 21st November 1978

  • Contraception legalized.
  • Discriminatory laws on adultery abolished.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1978 (67) ]

1979

  • Various conservative political parties, including Fraga's AP, join forces as the Coalición Democrática to fight the forthcoming election.
  • January 3rd: Agreement is reached with the Vatican on revisions to the 1953 Concordat between Spain and the Catholic Church, paving the way for the separation of Church and state required by the new Constitution.
  • March 1st: General Election produces almost exactly the same result as the 1977 elections: UCD 168, PSOE 122, PCE 22, Others 38, including 3 seats for Herri Batasuna. In the Senate, the UCD has 120 seats, the PSOE has 68, and the CD has 3.

    [Graph of the 1979 General Election results]
    (Results from the Ministerio del Interior. Electoral map from El País.)

  • April 3rd: In Spain's first Local Elections since the dictatorship, the UCD have 29,614 counsellors, the PSOE have 12,220 and the PCE have 3,608. The left-wing parties are able to take control of several major municipal councils.
  • May: A crisis in the PSOE is precipitated by the refusal of delegates at its congress to formally renounce Marxism. As a result, Felipe González stands down as leader.
  • March: Ministry of Territorial Administration set up to oversee the transfer of power to the devolved regions.
  • September 28th: At an extraordinary congress of the PSOE, Felipe González regains the leadership.
  • October 25th: The Statute of Autonomy for Catalunya (→ full text) is endorsed at a referendum by 88.15% to 7.76%. The Statute of Autonomy for the Basque Country (→ full text) is endorsed at a referendum by 94.6% to 5.4%. Both Statutes come into effect in December.
  • Homosexuality decriminalized.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1979 (81) ]

1980

  • Ideological gaps began to open within the UCD, particularly between the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats over the proposed legalization of divorce.
  • February 28th: A referendum in Andalucía produces an overwhelming result in favour of full autonomy for the region, 94.2% to 5.8%. The anniversary is now commemorated as the Día de Andalucía.
  • [Carlos Garaikoetxea]
    Carlos Garaikoetxea
  • March 9th: Regional elections in the Basque country show strong support for the nationalist parties, predominantly the Partido Nacionalista Vasco (PNV), who take 25 of the 60 seats. Herri Batasuna have 11, the PSOE have 9, Euskadiko Ezkerra (EE) have 6. The PNV's Carlos Garaikoetxea becomes the first Lehendakari (Prime Minister) of the new region.

    [Graph of the results of the 1980 elections to the Basque Parliament]

  • [Jordi Pujol]
    Jordi Pujol
  • March 20th: In Catalunya, the first Regional Parliament is elected. CiU win 43 seats, the PSOE-affiliated Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC) wins 33, the Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya (PSUC) wins 25, the UCD-affiliated Centristes de Catalunya (CDC) win 18, the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) win 14 and the Partido Socialista de Andalucia (PSA) wins 2. CiU's Jordi Pujol is elected President of the Generalitat.

    [Graph of the results of the 1980 elections to the Catalan parliament

  • September 18th: Tensions in the UCD boil over: Suárez is seen to side with the Social Democrats in the internal disputes, and the Christian Democrats mount a revolt against his leadership. He survives a Vote of No Confidence in the Cortes.
  • December 21st: the Statute of Autonomy for Galicia (→ full text) is endorsed in a referendum by 73.35% to 19.77%, though only 29% of the electorate vote.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1980 (96) ]

1981

  • January 29th: Suárez resigns, both from the premiership and the leadership of the UCD. Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún succeeds him in the latter capacity. The King awards Suárez with a dukedom in recognition of his services to democracy.
  • [23-F Coup]
    23-F Coup
  • February 23rd: A coup d'etat is attempted by the Army. Antonio Tejero (under the orders of two more senior officers, Lieutenant-General Jaime Miláns del Bosch and Major-General Alfonso Armada) marches into Congress and holds the deputies hostage while the Motorized Division of Miláns del Bosch occupies the streets of Valencia. The coup is foiled by the King, who contacts other army officers to assure them that the coup did not have his support, as had been claimed by the conspirators.
  • [Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo]
    Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo
  • February 25th: Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo is eventually sworn in as Suárez's replacement as Prime Minister, his elevation having been interrupted by the coup.
  • May 19th: Discriminatory articles of the Civil Code are replaced.
  • June 5th: The government and major unions sign the Acuerdo Nacional de Empleo (ANE), an agreement on wage levels and employment law.
  • [Terra Liurre logo]
    Terra Lliure graffito
  • June 24th: The Catalan terrorist group Terra Lliure (TLL), which had been formed in 1979 but remained very low-key, publish their manifesto 'Criada de Terra Lliure'.
  • September 5th: Enrique Cerdán Calixto, leader of the Maoist terrorists GRAPO, dies in a shootout with police in Barcelona.
  • October 20th: The first Regional Elections in Galicia are won by the AP. Gerardo Fernández of the Partido Popular de Galicia (PPdeG) becomes the first President of the region. Meanwhile, the Statue of Autonomy for Andalucía (→ full text) is ratified in a referendum by 89.38% to 7%, with a turnout of 53.49%
  • November: Gradually the UCD began to collapse into warring factions which link up with other main parties. Rodríguez Sahagún resigns the party Presidency on November 13th, and is replaced in the interim by Calvo Sotelo and then by Landelino Lavilla.
  • December 10th: Spain formally applies to join NATO, despite a 600,000-signature petition against the application organised by the PSOE.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1981 (30) ]

1982

  • May 23rd: The first Regional Elections in Andalucía are won by the PSOE. Rafael Escuredo becomes the first President of the region.
  • May 30th: Spain joins NATO.
  • June 3rd: The leaders of the 1981 coup are handed lengthy prison sentences.
  • July 28th: The Duque de Suárez leaves the UCD to found a new party, the Centro Democrático Social (CDS).
  • June 30th: The Ley Orgánica de Armonización del Proceso Autonómico (LOAPA), an Act regulating devolution of power to the regions, is approved.
  • October 28th: General Election is won overwhelmingly by the PSOE, with 202 seats. The AP wins 107 seats, the UCD wins 11, the PCE wins 5 and Suárez's CDS wins 2. In the Senate, the PSOE has 134 seats, the AP has 54 and the UCD has 4.

    [Graph of the 1982 General Election results]
    (Results from the Ministerio del Interior. Electoral map from El País.)

  • [Felipe González]
    Felipe González
  • December 1st: Felipe González, leader of the PSOE, is confirmed as the new Prime Minister.
  • December 14th: The border with Gibraltar is partially reopened, having been closed for thirteen years.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1982 (41) ]

1983

  • February 18th: The UCD is formally dissolved.
  • February 23rd: The government nationalises the vast banking concern Rumasa, ostensibly because of its imminent bankruptcy. The controversial nationalisation sets a long legal battle in motion and gives rise to endless conspiracy theories; the group's constituent companies are broken up and reprivatised.
  • May 8th: Echoing the previous year's General Election landslide, the PSOE perform well in the Local Elections, gaining absolute control of 26 major municipal councils with 21292 councellors to the AP's 16,307. Regional Elections in thirteen Autonomous Communities bring similar results, with PSOE victories in all but Cantabria and the Balearic Islands.
  • May 18th: 100,000 people demonstrate in Madrid, calling for a nationwide referendum on Spain's membership of NATO.
  • June: the government announces extensive plans for restructuring of industry, including a massive program of privatisation of state-owned companies.
  • August 9th: 14 of the 38 articles of the LOAPA are declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. The Law is redrafted as the Ley del Proceso Autonómico and its amended form is approved by Parliament on October 8th.
  • December 20th: The Ley Orgánica de Derecho a la Educación (LODE), a controversial law reforming the education system, is passed by Parliament.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1983 (42) ]

1984

  • February 26th: Regional Elections in the Basque country are won by the PNV, with 32 of the 75 seats. The PSOE have 19 seats, HB have 11, the AP and its allies have 7.

    [Graph of the results of the 1984 elections to the Basque Parliament]

  • March 26th: A series of reforms of the legal system and security services begins.
  • April 29th: Regional Elections in Catalunya are won by CiU with an absolute majority of 72 seats compared to 41 for the PSC, 11 for the Catalan wing of the AP and its allies, 6 for the PSUC and 5 for the ERC.

    [Graph of the results of the 1984 elections to the Catalan Parliament]

  • July 10th: The Constitutional Court rules that it is not a crime for Spanish women to go abroad to receive abortions.
  • October 4th: The Acuerdo Económico y Social (AES), an national agreement on wage levels, is signed by the government and two unions, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) and the Confederación Española de Organizaciones Empersariales (CEOE). However, the communist trade union Comisiones Obreras (CCOO) refuses to sign.
  • November 20th: Santiago Brouard, one of the leaders of Herri Batasuna, is assassinated.
  • December 15th: In a reversal of policy, and against the run of public opinion, the PSOE's congress approves continued Spanish membership of NATO.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1984 (32) ]

1985

  • January 14th: In ratifying the European Convention on Human Rights, the death penalty is abolished.
  • January 26th: After disagreements over policy, Carlos Garaikoetxea is replaced as leader of the PNV and Lehendakari by José Antonio Ardanza.
  • February 4th: The border with Gibraltar is fully opened after an agreement with the United Kingdom.
  • June 12th: Spain signs its treaty of accession to the EEC.
  • June 20th: A general strike is called by the UGT in protest at the government's ongoing reforms of the social security system.
  • July 5th: Abortion is legalised, under limited circumstances.
  • November 10th: Hundreds of thousands of Spaniards join mass demonstrations across the country against continued NATO membership.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1985 (38) ]

1986

  • Unemployment peaks at 22%.
  • January 1st: Spain (finally) becomes a member of the EEC.
  • March 12th: A referendum on NATO endorses continued membership 52.5% to 39.8%.
  • April 29th: Left-wing opposition parties including the PCE form an electoral coalition, Izquierda Unida (IU).
  • June 22nd: General Election, won by the PSOE with 184 seats. The Coalición Popular (the AP and its allies on the right) wins 105 seats, the CDS wins 19 and IU wins 7. In the Senate, the PSOE has 124 seats, the CP has 63 and the CDS has 3.

    [Graph of the 1986 General Election results]
    (Results from the Ministerio del Interior. Electoral map from El País.)

  • October 18th: The IOC selects Barcelona as the host of the 1992 Olympic Games.
  • ['EA logo']
    Logo of EA
  • November 30th: After a fundamental schism in the PNV, Carlos Garaikoetxea and many fellows leave to create a new party, Eusko Alkartasuna (EA). As a result, Regional Elections in the Basque country are called early. The division of the PNV's support contributes to a narrow victory by the PSOE, with 19 seats to the PNV's 17. HB has 13 seats, EA has 9. A PNV/PSOE coalition is eventually agreed after several months of negotiations.

    [Graph of the results of the 1986 elections to the Basque Parliament]

  • December 1st: Fraga resigns the leadership of the AP following the party's failure in the Basque elections.
  • December 16th: The Constitutional Court brings the three-year legal fallout of the Rumasa affair to a close, declaring its nationalisation constitutional.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1986 (40) ]

1987

  • [Antonio Hernández Mancha]
    A. Hernández Mancha
  • February 7th: Antonio Hernández Mancha is elected as the new leader of the AP.
  • February 23rd: A group of left-wing Catalan political parties, including the PSUC, form an electoral coalition Iniciativa per Catalunya.
  • June 10th: The Local, Regional and European Elections prove a mixed bag for the PSOE. In the Local Elections, the party 23,241 councillors to the AP's 16,312 and the CDS's 5,952, but loses its absolute majority on all major city councils. In the Regional Elections, the PSOE retains control of ten of the thirteen Autonomous Communities contested, but loses Castille & León to the AP. In Spain's first deputation to the European Parliament the PSOE take 28 seats, the AP have 17, the CDS have 7, IU and Ciu each have 3, and Herri Batasuna have 1.
  • August 22nd: The Guardia Civil agrees to admit women.
  • September 30th: ETA leader Santi Potros is arrested in France.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1987 (53) ]

1988

  • January 12th: Basque political parties, with the exception of Herri Batasuna, sign the Pact of Ajuria Enea, condemning terrorism and aiming to work towards peace in the region.
  • February 19: In response to a ceasefire, the government cautiously reopens negotiations with ETA. Talks last just six days before they are abandoned after ETA kidnap a prominent industrialist, Emiliano Revilla.
  • March 10th: Women are allowed to join the army and train in the military academies.
  • June 29th:: Regional Elections in Catalunya. CiU narrowly retain their absolute majority with 69 seats. The PSC have 42, IC have 9, the AP and ERC each have 6.

    [Graph of the results of the 1988 elections to the Catalan Parliament]

  • October 18th: The beginnings of judicial proceedings against two police officers, José Amedo and Michel Domínguez, accused of involvement in the assassinations of ETA personnel and sympathisers, bring the scandal of the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL) into the public eye. Investigation would eventually reveal the government-sponsored GAL death squads to be responsible for 27 murders between 1983 and 1987, including that of Santiago Brouard.
  • December 14th: A massive general strike is held by the trade unions in protest at the government's economic policies. Negotiations resulting from the strike gradually brought improvements in the Spanish welfare system.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1988 (19) ]

1989

  • January 3rd: Hernández Mancha resigns the leadership of the AP.
  • January 20th: At its congress in Madrid, the AP reinvents itself as the Partido Popular (PP) and elects Manuel Fraga its interim president.
  • January 22nd: ETA calls a two-month truce as negotiations resume with the government. The talks are abandoned in April, and violence resumes.
  • February 28th: The High Court orders an investigation into the Interior Ministry's black budget funding of the GAL.
  • April 10th: The UGT announces that, for the first time in its history, it will not be supporting the PSOE in the following month's elections.
  • June 10th: European Elections: both of the major parties lose seats to minority parties. The PSOE have 27 seats, the PP have 15, the CDS have 5, IU have 4 and CiU 2, with the remaining 7 seats split among other parties.
  • June 19th: Spain joins the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.
  • [José María Aznar]
    José María Aznar
  • August 6th: The CDS breaks off relations with the PP, allowing the PSOE to take minority control over many municipal councils.
  • September 4th: José María Aznar takes over as leader of the PP.
  • October 29th: General Election is held, though the result takes almost five months to decide due to allegations of irregularity. The PSOE wins with 175 seats, the PP wins 107 seats, CiU wins 18 seats, the IU wins 17 seats and the CDS wins 14. In the Senate, the PSOE has 107 seats, the PP has 78, CiU has 10 and the CDS and IU have 1 apiece.

    [Graph of the 1989 General Election results]
    (Results from the Ministerio del Interior. Electoral map from El País.)

  • December 17th: Regional Elections in Galicia are comfortably won by the PPdeG with 38 seats to the PSOE's 28, giving it an absolute majority by 1 seat.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1989 (17) ]

1990

  • January 30th: Manuel Fraga is elected President of the Xunta de Galicia following his party's victory in the previous month's elections.
  • Corruption scandals hit both major parties:
    • February 1st: Alfonso Guerra, the Deputy Prime Minister, is questioned by Parliament after it is revealed that his brother Juan had occupied a government office in Seville for years, though he held no government job.
    • April 9th: Rosendo Naseiro, the treasurer of the PP, is arrested on charges of fraud in a financial scandal that later implicates other senior party figures.
  • April 4th: Two ETA leaders, Frederic Haramboure and Jacques Esnal, are arrested in France.
  • June 23rd: Regional Elections in Andalucía. The PSOE retain their absolute majority with 61 seats to the PP's 27.
  • October 3rd: The Ley Orgánica de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo (LOGSE), which extends the basic school leaving age to sixteen, is approved by Parliament.
  • October 28th: Regional Elections in the Basque country. An inconclusive result sees the PNV take 22 seats, the PSOE 16, HB 13 and EA 9. Unidad Alavesa (UA), a new party created shortly before the elections after a split in the PP, performs surprisingly well, taking 3 seats in its first election.

    [Graph of the results of the 1990 elections to the Basque Parliament]

[ Show victims of ETA in 1990 (24) ]

1991

  • January 12th: Alfonso Guerra finally resigns over the Juan Guerra corruption affair.
  • January 22nd: Months of horsetrading in the Basque parliament finally produce an uneasy three-way coalition government made up of the PNV, EA and EE. José Antonio Ardanza continues as Lehendakari.
  • May 29th: Another corruption scandal hits the PSOE as it is alleged to have used a series of front companies (Filesa, Malesa and Time-Export) to fraudulently fund its 1989 electoral campaign.
  • May 26th: Local Elections. In the wake of the numerous Socialist corruption scandals the PP do well, returning 19,268 councillors to the PSOE's 25,260 and seizing control of several major cities. The CDS perform disastrously, with their tally of 2,939 representing a loss of over half their councillors. Adolfo Suárez resigns as leader of the party.
  • July 6th: TLL's assembly announces that the organisation is renouncing violence.
  • July 19th: The period of military service is reduced to nine months.
  • September 16th: EA are expelled from the governing coalition in the Basque country after a series of policy disagreements.
  • September 20th: José Amedo y Michel Domínguez are each sentenced to over 100 years in prison for their role in the GAL affair. Investigations continue into the involvement of government ministers.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1991 (44) ]

1992

  • [Expo '92]
    Expo '92 [Barcelona '92]
    Barcelona '92
  • A big year for Spain on the international stage:
    • Madrid is the EC Capital of Culture.
    • April 20th: The World Exposition 'Expo 92' opens in Seville.
    • July 25th: The 1992 Olympic Games open in Barcelona. Spain wins 22 medals.
  • March 15th: Regional Elections in Catalunya, with CiU increasing its majority. The coalition has 70 seats, the PSC has 40, the PP has 11 and IC and ERC each have 7.

    [Graph of the results of the 1992 elections to the Catalan Parliament]

  • March 29th: French police arrest 24 members of ETA's leadership in Biarritz, including the three key figures of military leader Francisco Mujika Garmendia, political leader José Luis Álvarez Santacristina and logistical leader José María Arregi Erostarbe.
  • April 21st: The new AVE high speed train begins service between Madrid and Seville.
  • August 27th: The Constitution is amended, for the only time since 1978, to bring it into line with the requirements of the Maastricht Treaty.
  • September 10th: Hispasat 1A, the first Spanish communications satellite, is launched from the ESA's spaceport in French Guiana.
  • December 3rd: The oil tanker Aegean Sea suffers a catastrophic accident off A Coruña, spilling more than 70,000 tons of oil into the ocean and provoking an environmental disaster on the Galician coast.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1992 (26) ]

1993

  • March 20th: An independent report into the Filesa affair is published, upholding all major charges against the PSOE officials. González responds by calling a snap election.
  • March 27th: The Basque political party Euskadiko Ezkerra merges with the Basque branch of the PSOE. A splinter group opposed to the merger form a short-lived alternative party, Euskal Ezkerra (EuE), which itself merges with EA shortly afterwards.
  • June 6: General Election. The PSOE wins 159 seats, the PP wins 141 seats, the IU wins 18 seats and CiU wins 17. In the Senate, the PSOE has 117 seats, the PP has 106 and CiU has 14. Losing its absolute majority in Congress, the PSOE is forced into coalition with the Basque and Catalan nationalists in order to govern.

    [Graph of the 1993 General Election results]
    (Results from the Ministerio del Interior. Electoral map from El País.)

  • December 3rd: Luis Roldán, Director of the Guardia Civil, is sacked for corruption.

[ Show victims of ETA in 1993 (14) ]